The Film Room - Weeks 2 & 3 (1 Viewer)

[Matt Waldman]

The outcome of the NFL's 2010 opener isn't much of a surprise. But if you ask the average person if the Saints would score less than 20 points and win the game on the ground, I bet most of them will guess that scenario is more fitting for a Vikings victory.

Pierre Thomas' 19 carries for 71 yards and a touchdown is a pedestrian night to the casual fan looking at the box score. A more observant fan will look beyond Thomas' 3.7-ypc average and note that the RB's tough running at the second level of the Vikings defense helped him pick up key first downs and fuel a strong second half. If that fan is a fantasy football owner, he's thinking Thomas got off to a good start as an RB2 for most leagues.

But forget about Thomas for a moment. Read this analysis and you'll understand why Carlton Nicks and Heath Evans won this game for the Saints on three variations of one play; a play designed to take the Vikings' strength and turn it against them. Afterwards, we'll consider how to apply this information to the fantasy prospects of Pierre Thomas, Reggie Bush and the Vikings defense.

Read more in The Film Room Week 2

 

[burritobrother]

Outstanding analysis.

 

[Kleck]

Fantastic read.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

The outcome of the NFL's 2010 opener isn't much of a surprise. But if you ask the average person if the Saints would score less than 20 points and win the game on the ground, I bet most of them will guess that scenario is more fitting for a Vikings victory.

Pierre Thomas' 19 carries for 71 yards and a touchdown is a pedestrian night to the casual fan looking at the box score. A more observant fan will look beyond Thomas' 3.7-ypc average and note that the RB's tough running at the second level of the Vikings defense helped him pick up key first downs and fuel a strong second half. If that fan is a fantasy football owner, he's thinking Thomas got off to a good start as an RB2 for most leagues.

But forget about Thomas for a moment. Read this analysis and you'll understand why Carlton Nicks and Heath Evans won this game for the Saints on three variations of one play; a play designed to take the Vikings' strength and turn it against them. Afterwards, we'll consider how to apply this information to the fantasy prospects of Pierre Thomas, Reggie Bush and the Vikings defense.

Read more in The Film Room Week 2

I was just reading this.

Required reading for those who ask whether Reggie Bush is/was worth what the Saints selected him at / pay him.

"The beginning offensive formation screams run to the right, but “watch out for the end-around” to a smart albeit aggressive player like Jared Allen. What the Vikings don't realize is that this is window dressing to set up a two-on-one situation with Allen versus Bush and Thomas. Allen has to guess Bush or the runner has the potential for a touchdown on the end-around. This allows Thomas to get a step into the hole and drag Allen for a first down and another five yards.

The Saints run this exact same play a few plays later on a 1st and goal from the Vikings' six yard line with 6:53 in the 3rd QTR. and despite the fact Allen is savvy enough to know Thomas is about to get the ball and he angles himself towards the hole of the RB's destination, he's still forced to hesitate a half-beat to account for Bush coming around the end. This brief hesitation prevents Allen from getting a strong wrap on Thomas and the runner gains five yards to the one-yard line. On the next play, Thomas punches it in for what is the game-winning score."

The Saints did this a lot against the Vikes to great effect; you could see the defense shift with Bush. But this has been going on for a while; Saints fans at teh games know it, it's rare to see it get noticed outside NO.

 

[mistersmith]

Love this kind of stuff. Thanks. So much better than hearing tv announcers say over and over again how running the ball wins games.

ETA: just got NFL rewind. goes perfectly with these kinds of articles.

 

[FallenHero32]

The outcome of the NFL's 2010 opener isn't much of a surprise. But if you ask the average person if the Saints would score less than 20 points and win the game on the ground, I bet most of them will guess that scenario is more fitting for a Vikings victory.

Pierre Thomas' 19 carries for 71 yards and a touchdown is a pedestrian night to the casual fan looking at the box score. A more observant fan will look beyond Thomas' 3.7-ypc average and note that the RB's tough running at the second level of the Vikings defense helped him pick up key first downs and fuel a strong second half. If that fan is a fantasy football owner, he's thinking Thomas got off to a good start as an RB2 for most leagues.

But forget about Thomas for a moment. Read this analysis and you'll understand why Carlton Nicks and Heath Evans won this game for the Saints on three variations of one play; a play designed to take the Vikings' strength and turn it against them. Afterwards, we'll consider how to apply this information to the fantasy prospects of Pierre Thomas, Reggie Bush and the Vikings defense.

Read more in The Film Room Week 2

I was just reading this.

Required reading for those who ask whether Reggie Bush is/was worth what the Saints selected him at / pay him.

"The beginning offensive formation screams run to the right, but “watch out for the end-around” to a smart albeit aggressive player like Jared Allen. What the Vikings don't realize is that this is window dressing to set up a two-on-one situation with Allen versus Bush and Thomas. Allen has to guess Bush or the runner has the potential for a touchdown on the end-around. This allows Thomas to get a step into the hole and drag Allen for a first down and another five yards.

The Saints run this exact same play a few plays later on a 1st and goal from the Vikings' six yard line with 6:53 in the 3rd QTR. and despite the fact Allen is savvy enough to know Thomas is about to get the ball and he angles himself towards the hole of the RB's destination, he's still forced to hesitate a half-beat to account for Bush coming around the end. This brief hesitation prevents Allen from getting a strong wrap on Thomas and the runner gains five yards to the one-yard line. On the next play, Thomas punches it in for what is the game-winning score."

The Saints did this a lot against the Vikes to great effect; you could see the defense shift with Bush. But this has been going on for a while; Saints fans at teh games know it, it's rare to see it get noticed outside NO.

And you know it wouldn't take much for the ball to get to Bush, so the shift for Bush won't stop. If it does, Bush gets the ball and breaks a big play. Sean Payton and his coaching staff are simply amazing. I love reading this kind of stuff as I didn't play football growing up (soccer guy here) but this in depth articles really get me thinking.

 

[Matt Waldman]

Thanks.

 

[hook014]

Outstanding piece of work. If you're in this thread and wonder if you should take the time to read it. Just do it.

If you're a real football fan you will enjoy the cutting edge mind games being played on the field that are never gonna be highlighted in a tv broadcast. The bonus is that the Saints offense and Minny defense are really both at the top of the league. These aren't scrubs who are getting beat. It's the best vs the best.

Waldman has been a must read guy for me for about the last year. And his stuff is getting even better. Bravo.

 

[Stompin' Tom Connors]

Outstanding piece of work. If you're in this thread and wonder if you should take the time to read it. Just do it.If you're a real football fan you will enjoy the cutting edge mind games being played on the field that are never gonna be highlighted in a tv broadcast. The bonus is that the Saints offense and Minny defense are really both at the top of the league. These aren't scrubs who are getting beat. It's the best vs the best.Waldman has been a must read guy for me for about the last year. And his stuff is getting even better. Bravo.

x 10This is the kind of insight, analysis, information and context that, even after enjoying the game for 2+ decades, makes me appreciate it that much more, and better yet, educates me further, increasing my appreciation of the game -- and of Waldman's take on it.Please continue to make this as regular of a feature as you possibly can.The only thing I would add is footage of the play, if at all feasible, to see the play in action.

 

[Matt Waldman]

Outstanding piece of work. If you're in this thread and wonder if you should take the time to read it. Just do it.If you're a real football fan you will enjoy the cutting edge mind games being played on the field that are never gonna be highlighted in a tv broadcast. The bonus is that the Saints offense and Minny defense are really both at the top of the league. These aren't scrubs who are getting beat. It's the best vs the best.Waldman has been a must read guy for me for about the last year. And his stuff is getting even better. Bravo.

x 10This is the kind of insight, analysis, information and context that, even after enjoying the game for 2+ decades, makes me appreciate it that much more, and better yet, educates me further, increasing my appreciation of the game -- and of Waldman's take on it.Please continue to make this as regular of a feature as you possibly can.The only thing I would add is footage of the play, if at all feasible, to see the play in action.

Much appreciation. If I can add footage I will, but I probably need to seek confirmation that this can be done within the rules of the NFL. This column is replacing an old column and honestly it has renewed my excitement about football writing. Big thanks to Jene Bramel for converting my Excel diagrams to what's on the page - more colorful and better quality by far.

 

[footballnerd]

 

[Stompin' Tom Connors]

Outstanding piece of work. If you're in this thread and wonder if you should take the time to read it. Just do it.If you're a real football fan you will enjoy the cutting edge mind games being played on the field that are never gonna be highlighted in a tv broadcast. The bonus is that the Saints offense and Minny defense are really both at the top of the league. These aren't scrubs who are getting beat. It's the best vs the best.Waldman has been a must read guy for me for about the last year. And his stuff is getting even better. Bravo.

x 10This is the kind of insight, analysis, information and context that, even after enjoying the game for 2+ decades, makes me appreciate it that much more, and better yet, educates me further, increasing my appreciation of the game -- and of Waldman's take on it.Please continue to make this as regular of a feature as you possibly can.The only thing I would add is footage of the play, if at all feasible, to see the play in action.

Much appreciation. If I can add footage I will, but I probably need to seek confirmation that this can be done within the rules of the NFL. This column is replacing an old column and honestly it has renewed my excitement about football writing. Big thanks to Jene Bramel for converting my Excel diagrams to what's on the page - more colorful and better quality by far.

I figured that licensing restrictions limits the ability to add footage to these columns, and even if you could drag something up on YouTube it might not be ideal in terms of clarity or the time it's allowed to be up. In a perfect world....This also reminded me to give big props to Bramel and his Sight Adjustment column -- a similarly phenomenal look at CIN failing badly vs NE's Bubble Screen, and a really intriguing insight into the Steeler's baiting NE against ATL's sideline pass calls. You both are upping the bar -- keep these coming, they are fantastic value-adds, and make the subscription fee worth that much more for every penny.

 

[Da Man]

This kind of information is awesome!! Thanks a lot!!

 

[Tanner9919]

great information!!!

Biggest thing I took from this read, was:

Pierre Thomas should be productive against 4-3 defenses, so he's a great fantasy start in those games...

against a 3-4, take a wait-n-see approach..

 

[Matt Waldman]

great information!!!Biggest thing I took from this read, wasierre Thomas should be productive against 4-3 defenses, so he's a great fantasy start in those games...against a 3-4, take a wait-n-see approach..

I hope I can can some of the Miami - Minnesota game this week because I would like to see how they approach the Vikings' unit. I haven't studied the Dolphins so I'm not sure about this but I imagine that they run straight at you with a more power-oriented offense, which is the Vikings' wheelhouse. The Wildcat is their wildcard and I would like to see how that works out.

 

[Jene Bramel]

Outstanding piece of work. If you're in this thread and wonder if you should take the time to read it. Just do it.If you're a real football fan you will enjoy the cutting edge mind games being played on the field that are never gonna be highlighted in a tv broadcast. The bonus is that the Saints offense and Minny defense are really both at the top of the league. These aren't scrubs who are getting beat. It's the best vs the best.Waldman has been a must read guy for me for about the last year. And his stuff is getting even better. Bravo.

x 10This is the kind of insight, analysis, information and context that, even after enjoying the game for 2+ decades, makes me appreciate it that much more, and better yet, educates me further, increasing my appreciation of the game -- and of Waldman's take on it.Please continue to make this as regular of a feature as you possibly can.The only thing I would add is footage of the play, if at all feasible, to see the play in action.

Much appreciation. If I can add footage I will, but I probably need to seek confirmation that this can be done within the rules of the NFL. This column is replacing an old column and honestly it has renewed my excitement about football writing. Big thanks to Jene Bramel for converting my Excel diagrams to what's on the page - more colorful and better quality by far.

No worries on the diagrams.I had some screencaps from the network feeds when breaking down plays in my column last year and decided against it this year. I think it's probably okay, but seemed to be cutting the NFL's broadcast rules a little closely (though I did use one screencap this week). That was the primary motivation behind doing the diagrams differently this year. I think they're much easier to follow than the Excel translations we've tried in the past.And I fully agree with the sentiment in this thread. When Matt showed me this last weekend, I was floored. Great stuff indeed. I'm hoping to do some similar things in my Sight Adjustments column, though I'm not sure I'll be able to provide the prolific levels of detail Matt does. If you liked Matt's stuff, Sight Adjustments looked at some interesting angles on the Welker bubble screen TD and Polamalu's interception of Ryan. (ETA: Thanks, Stompin' Tom.)

 

[ready5]

okay, so apparently i don't really know anything about football. holy crap.

moremoremore.

 

[Jene Bramel]

Check out Week 3 if you haven't done already. Matt's look into the nuances of the W1 matchup between two Hall of Famers (LaDainian Tomlinson and Ray Lewis) is again top-notch work.

 

[Matt Waldman]

Link to Week 3's article?

 

[CaptainHook]

is there a way to subscribe to only your stuff